Order of Estate Inheritance — If You Don't Write a Will, Who Gets the Money?
TimeWill Editorial · Updated 2026-06-24
If you die without a will, your estate is distributed in the order set by Article 1127 of China's Civil Code. First in line: spouse, children, and parents — who share equally. Siblings and grandparents only come in when there's no one in the first tier. But digital assets fall outside statutory inheritance — WeChat, Alipay, and Bitcoin need to be planned for separately.
The Inheritance Order Under the Civil Code
- First tier — Spouse, children (including legitimate, illegitimate, and adopted), and parents. All three share equally.
- Second tier — Siblings and paternal and maternal grandparents. Only invoked when there's no one in the first tier.
- Representation inheritance — If a child dies before you, the child's direct descendants (your grandchildren) inherit in the child's place.
- Special provision — Heirs with special difficulties and little capacity to work should be provided for.
The gap with digital assets is this: statutory inheritance documents list 'real estate' and 'bank deposits,' not 'WeChat balance' or 'Bitcoin private key.' And what your family needs isn't just the right to inherit — they need the passwords. That's the gap TimeWill fills.
FAQ
Q: Without a will, how much does a spouse get?
If children and parents are alive, the spouse shares equally with them. For example, spouse + 2 children + 2 parents = 5 equal shares. If the parents are gone and there are 2 children, it's the spouse + 2 children sharing equally. It depends on how many first-tier heirs there are.
Q: For a childless DINK couple, who inherits?
Spouse first, parents second. If both spouse and parents are gone, it passes to siblings, then nieces and nephews. If there are no close relatives at all, the estate goes to the state. So DINK couples should definitely write a will — without one, your money could end up with a distant relative you haven't seen in a decade.
Q: How are digital assets treated in statutory inheritance?
Article 127 of the Civil Code protects virtual property, but enforcement is very difficult in practice. If your family doesn't know what digital assets you have or the passwords, statutory inheritance is just words on paper. Digital assets need separate planning — encrypted storage with trigger conditions set.